Safety means for gas-tanks.



R. E. BRUCKNER.

SAFETY MEANS FOR GAS TANKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 19|?.

1,250,552 Patented Dec. 18, 1917..,

3 n vauro z.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

RUDOLPH E. BEUCKNEB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOE TO THE COMMERCIALACETY- LENE COMPANY, F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION Ol' NEW JERSEY.

sanary MEANS ron. Gas-Tanks.

Specication 'of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917,

Appunti ma my 4, isi-v. serial 1ro. ieasoc.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RUDOLPHE. BRUCE- NER, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at New York city, county and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Safet Means for Gas-Tanks and the like,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a safety means for gas tanks and ibiulressureregulators and is particularly use in connection with gas welding andcutting apparatus wherein two tanks containing different gases -underpressure are distributed therefrom at a reduced pressure and lead to -atorch where said gases mingle and produce a flame of intense heat.Sometimes inthe use of such a paratuses, -a flash-back occurs which isliab e to cause great damage either by exploding the tank or by injuryor destruction to the pressure regulating means. By my invention this isguarded against. Again, it sometimes happens that in the event of'stoppage at the outlet of the torch, gas from one of the tanks if beingdischarged at a higher pressure than the fother, is liable to' force itsway back into the other tankcreating what is recognized as a dangerouscondition. This likewise is guarded against. ent invention 4`isadistinctimproveinent in many ways over prior existing devices, in thatit associates the safety means with the regulator unit whereby it iseffectively protected and whereby danger of injury or unsatisfactoryoperation is guarded against in the above and otherrespects which willbe apparent to the mechanic skilled in the art. My improved device willbe found to contain many advantages, for` example, by the 40.-employment of my invention the particular construction of the tool ortorch employed is immaterial.

- In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a view conventiona yillustrating the upper part of two gas tanks operatively connected andassociated with a torch.

Fig. 2 is a section on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 andrelatively enlarged.

It be understood that I have shown and described my invention only inits referred rembodiment, and that modiiications i and changes can bemade without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. 65 1conventionally represents the upper part My We' -ticular form shown, thevalve 18 is selfof a gas tank containing say acetylene. 2 conventionallyrepresents the upper part -of 'a tank containing say oxygen. 3 is a pipeleading from tan 1 to a torch 4. 5 is a pipe leading from the tank 2 tothe torch 4. Arranged intermediate the pipes 3--5 and their resiectivetanks, are gas pressure regplating evices usually builtas a unit andincluding a high lpressure and a low pressure gage. .One of these unitsis shown chiefly in section in Fig. 2, and will vbe seen to comprise amain pipe 6 having a mountmg 7 for a high pressure gage 8 and having -alow pressure chamber 9 upon which is .mounted a low pressure gage 10.The pipe 6 has a nozzle projecting into the chamber 9 controlled by avalve 11 'which is mounted on a carrier 12 connected with a diaphragm13. The diaphragm 13 is pressed in the valve4 opening direction by aspring 14, and the compression of said spring may be increased ordiminished by means of a screw lo controlled by a handle 16 whereby thediaphragm 13 will resist to a greater or less capacity the pressure ofgas within chamber 9 and will correspondingly control the operation ofthe valve 11. 17 is a pipe. leading froiiiA/...the'lchamber 9 towardthe' torch. 18 ia check valve carried by the regulator unit Aandpreferably located in a chamber in the outlet end 17 whereby said checkvalve will not only prevent. flow of gas toward the tank with which theregulator is connected, but will also prevent a flash-back into theregulator. In the parclosing under the action of a spring 19. 20 is anoutlet nipple to which one of the pipes 3 or 5 which lead to the torch 4is connected. In this instance we have shown the pipe 5 as connectedtherewith. The opposite end l of the regulator unit is provided with asuitable coupling 21 whereby the regulator unit may be connected to thetank. 22 represents the usual so-called stud valve with which such tanksare equipped, this valve be" provided with the usual controlling han e23. In this particular instance the coupling 21 is connected jto theoutlet of the stud valve, as shown in Fi 1. When the parts are allassembled, as s own, it. will be observed that the high pressure gages8-8 ioo ' will register the actual tank ressure when the stud valves areopened. o reduce this p the handles 16 may be turned to the 110 desireddegree so that the gages 10--10 will indicate the pressure of gas withinthe pipes :5w-5, that is to say, the pressure of gas in each pi )e asdelivered to the torch 4. In the event t e outlet end of the torch 4should become clogged, it is obvious that if the pressure in one tankand its connecting pipe should be greater' than the pressure in thcother tank, gas would flow from the former into the latter in theabsence of the check valve aforesaid, but my improvement absolutelyprevents this and thereby removes a source of great danger In thepreferred construction also, the check valve safeguards the gage unitsas well as the tanks from any possible accident due to a flash-back. Bythe particular arrangement shown, the danger of any disconnecting of thecheck valve or uncertainty of its operation is minimized because thesame is mounted in a solid part of the regulating unit which is alwaysso located that there is very little danger of its being subjected torough treatment orundue strain.

It is obvious that my improvement makes it possible to use a tool ortorch of any description without sacrifice of safety.

I claim:

1.'In a gas welding and cutting apparatus wherein different gases,contained under pressure in two tanks, are distributed therefrom at areduced pressure and lead to a torch wherein said gases mingle and areignited to produce a flame of intense heat, a self-contained safetydevice comprising a casing, a pressure reducing valve therein, saidcasing having an inlet pipe at one side valve within said valve chamberarrangedw to close the passage-way leading to said casing to permit theflow of gas in an outward direction only.

2. In a self-contained safety apparatus of the character described forgas tanks, a pressure regulating device arranged to be rigidly attachedto. a tank and including a pipe coupling means at one end thereof, ahousing, the other end of said pipe projecting into said housing, adiaphragm controlled pressure reducing valve in said housing associatedwith that part of said pipe projecting into the same, a rigid outletpipe projecting from said housing and arranged to be connected with aflexible pipe extension, valve mechanism within said outlet pipecomprising a spring seated valve arranged to prevent the flow of gastoward the tank with which it is connected but permitting the flow ofgas in an opposite direction whereby the back flow of gas and thecollection of explosive mixtures in the pressure reducing valve and tankis prevented.

RUDOLPH E. BRUCKNER.

